Wage Theft Press

A hundred years ago, labor leaders fought for all the protections we know and rely on today in the workplace - safe conditions, the 8-hour workday, overtime pay and the ban on children in factories. These are rules so obvious today that is seems fantastical that people once had to march in the streets to get them. Yet, today, something even more fundamental is under attack. Workers are seeing their wages stolen by their bosses, with little recourse to do anything about it.

Low-wage workers outside L.A. City Hall gather with local lawmakers and advocates in support of a crackdown on so-called ‘wage theft.’

According to researchers at UCLA, every week, low-wage workers in Los Angeles lose over $26 million of their income to wage theft. The theft can happen in a variety of ways, but often it’s as simple as workers not being paid for hours that they work, or for overtime.

Two L.A. City Council members say local employers are ripping off local workers, essentially skimming money from their pay at alarming rates. Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz proposed a law yesterday that would, if approved, "criminalize the practice of wage theft in the City of Los Angeles," says Cedillo's office.

Two Los Angeles city councilmen want employers to face criminal penalties when they withhold wages owed to their employees. Councilmen Paul Koretz and Gil Cedillo introduced a motion Tuesday that asks the City Attorney's Office and the LAPD to work with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and UCLA Downtown Labor Center to craft a city law against "wage theft." Organizers describe"wage theft" as violating minimum wage and overtime laws and forcing employees to work off the clock.

Two Los Angeles city councilmen on Tuesday called for a crackdown on employers who do not pay their workers the proper amount of wages. The motion put forward by Councilmen Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz would criminalize penalties for employers found guilty of cheating workers out of pay, commonly referred to as wage theft.

Los Angeles is known as the wage theft capital of America. A study from the University of California at Los Angeles shows that employers steal more from workers in Los Angeles than in New York or Chicago. And each year, more employers decide to take advantage of workers, most of whom are immigrants. There are an estimated 750,000 low wage workers in Los Angeles.

Two Los Angeles City Council members began a push Tuesday for a new city ordinance that would crack down on businesses that cheat workers of their pay.

"If you steal from a store, you go to jail," said Councilman Paul Koretz, who was joined by Councilman Gil Cedillo in moving to draft a proposal. "But employers who cheat their workers out of their hard-earned wages usually get away with it."

ACTION REPORT-At Brave New Films, much of our work focuses on the ways powerful people profit from exploiting non-powerful people.

Whether it's private prison companies profiting from locking up poor people for non-violent offenses, or the world's billionaires buying governmental policies that benefit them at the expense of the working classes. Our newest video tackles wage theft -- the various ways that employers save a buck or two by stealing from employees.